


In Transition

by straightforwardly



Category: Princess Debut
Genre: Dancing, F/F, Friendship, Pre-Romance, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-25
Updated: 2013-12-25
Packaged: 2018-01-06 00:45:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1100467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/straightforwardly/pseuds/straightforwardly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Isabel still doesn't really know how to be a friend. Sabrina still doesn't have a partner for the ball at St. Lyon's. Somehow, it all works out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Transition

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KannaOphelia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KannaOphelia/gifts).



> Many thanks to [Elfwreck](http://archiveofourown.org/users/elfwreck) for the beta. ♥
> 
> KannaOphelia, Princess Debut is one of the games of my heart, so when I saw your lovely prompts, I knew I had to write something for them. I admit I never considered Isabel & Sabrina, but I enjoyed figuring out a story for them post-Day 26. I hope you like this.

When Sabrina arrived at the Practice Hall the morning before the ball at St. Lyon's, Tony wasn't there. 

Since she was already awake, and there, she set to practicing the steps of one of the simpler dances by herself, the way Tony always made her do whenever he was teaching her a new dance. She wasn't sure how much help dancing by herself would be— but anything was better than just sitting around and waiting for him to show up.

She had just finished her routine, and was getting ready to go through it again when she became aware of someone watching her.

She turned, and smiled once she saw who it was, hovering in the doorway. "Isabel!"

Isabel stiffened, and for a moment Sabrina thought she was going to duck out of sight and run away. She felt a pang in her chest— was Isabel really that unused to people being happy to see her? 

But then Isabel relaxed, and began to walk towards her, and Sabrina let those thoughts fly away. 

"What are you doing?" Isabel asked, a bit stiffly, when she reached her. 

"Dancing by myself." Sabrina started picking out a few steps, then stopped again, and looked at her. "You know how to dance, don't you, Isabel?"

"What?" Isabel looked at her with wide eyes. 

"Tony mentioned giving you a lesson before," Sabrina said. "That means you can dance, right?"

Slowly, Isabel nodded.

"Great!" Sabrina exclaimed. "Then you can practice with me!"

Isabel started. "You— want me to dance with you?"

"That's what I said," Sabrina pointed out, amused. Isabel flushed.

"That won't work," she said, crossing her arms. "We're both girls— I don't know the right steps."

"That doesn't matter," Sabrina coaxed. "You'll be fine. We'll figure it out." She paused, then asked, "Do you know the waltz?" That had been the first dance Tony taught her— and so was the one that came easiest to her— but she wasn't sure if he approached all his lessons in the same way. 

Isabel hesitated, then nodded. 

"Then let's dance," Sabrina said.

Isabel stepped forward towards Sabrina, then made an aborted movement with her hands, hesitating again. Sabrina laughed, not unkindly, and took Isabel's hands in her own, settling them in their proper positions. Isabel's fingers trembled against her waist.

They began to dance. 

Partway through the routine, Isabel stumbled. She pulled away, backtracking so quickly she almost fell over her feet again. 

"I-I told you I wasn't very good!" she snapped, blushing furiously.

She had said no such thing, but Sabrina decided not to comment on it. 

It was funny. Only a week ago, she would have been offended if Isabel had snapped at her like that. But that had been before she had seen her crying in the castle garden, before she had seen her pure joy, her wide-eyed vulnerability, when she had offered to be Isabel's friend.

"Hey," Sabrina said, and then: "You were fine."

Isabel scoffed, and looked away, crossing her arms again. Sabrina wanted to point out that Isabel had been dancing an unfamiliar role, so mistakes were to be expected, but something told her Isabel wouldn't accept that, not right then.

She touched Isabel's arm with gentle fingers. "It's fine," she repeated instead. She grinned, suddenly. "You can trust a two-time dancing contest winner, right?"

Isabel rolled her eyes, but Sabrina could see the hint of a smile— she thought she could count that one as a success, then. 

A thought occurred to her, and she asked, "You wanted to spend time with me— right? That's why you came here."

Isabel's flush returned in full-force, and Sabrina pressed forward. "There's an amusement park nearby, right? Want to go?"

Isabel looked away from her, and mumbled something Sabrina couldn't catch. Then she muttered: "You're practicing."

Sabrina laughed. "Kip hasn't had a reason to yell at me for a while," she said. "Might as well give him one."

—

Sabrina popped the last bite of her funnel cake into her mouth, and discarded the paper plate in the nearest trashcan.

"That was delicious!" she announced, turning back to Isabel as she clapped the powdered sugar off of her hands. Isabel stared at her, the cotton candy she had been nibbling at the last half-hour hanging half-forgotten from her hand. 

"...You eat like a horse," Isabel said, flatly.

Sabrina grinned at her. "I can't help it! It's all so good!" she exclaimed. She bent over, snatching up Isabel's hand— the one that held the stick her cotton candy was wrapped around. "Do you mind?" she asked, slitting her eyes up at her. 

"...I'm not going to hold your hair back when you puke," Isabel declared, tossing back her head. Her cheeks flushed, betraying her attempt at nonchalance. 

Sabrina bit into the sticky fluff. Some of it smeared around her mouth, and she wiped it off with the back of her hand as she dropped Isabel's hand and straightened up.

"Ready to go on some rides now?" she asked.

"You are just begging to throw up," Isabel said, rolling her eyes. She glanced down at her cotton candy, and raised it to her mouth to take another bite. Then she raised her arm, and tossed what remained over Sabrina and solidly into the trash can.

Sabrina clapped. 

Isabel brushed off her hands, and began to walk in the direction of the rides. Then she stopped, and looked back at Sabrina. "What ride?" she asked. 

"Ferris wheel?" Sabrina suggested.

Isabel hesitated, a strange expression crossing quickly over her face, before saying, "Alright."

Sabrina frowned. "Do you want to do something else?"

Isabel shook her head, and started walking again. Sabrina moved to catch up with her. "No. The ferris wheel's fine."

Sabrina tilted her head to the side. "Are you sure?"

Isabel nodded briskly. She didn't look at her.

Sabrina nudged her. "Is something wrong?" she asked, lowering her voice. 

"Don't laugh," Isabel warned, a traitorous blush rising in her cheeks. She paused, then admitted, in a much quieter voice, "I'm... afraid of heights."

Sabrina blinked. "Is that all?"

Isabel spluttered, but before she could say anything Sabrina plowed forward. "Then let's do something else! What do you want to ride? Roller coaster? Wait, they go high too... Merry-go-round? Something else?"

Isabel was silent, her blush stubbornly sticking to her cheeks.

"...Merry-go-round?" Sabrina guessed.

Isabel nodded, still mute.

"Then we'll do that!" Sabrina declared. She grabbed Isabel's hand, and began dragging her in the direction she thought the merry-go-round was. "Let's go!"

When she glanced back, Isabel was smiling the smallest of smiles to herself.

—

Sabrina and Isabel walked back to the town together well after dusk had faded into night, Sabrina nibbling at one last corndog along the way. She finished shortly before reaching the castle, discarding the stick in one of the trashcans along the main path.

She stopped before the entrance leading to her wing of the castle, and turned to Isabel. "This is me," she said.

Isabel nodded. 

Sabrina opened her mouth to say good-night, but before she got a chance to even begin forming the words, Isabel stepping forward and wrapped her arms around her in a quick hug.

Sabrina barely had a moment to take in the feel of Isabel's arms around her, her breath warm against her neck and hair tickling her cheeks, before Isabel let go and took a few, quick steps back. 

She looked up at her, face burning, and Sabrina felt her cheeks echo the same.

"G-good night, then!" Isabel stuttered, barely getting the words out before turning around and hurrying off into the night. 

"Good night!" Sabrina called out after her, a bit belatedly. She waved her hand in the air. She knew Isabel wouldn't turn around, wouldn't see it, but she did it anyways, until Isabel disappeared from sight. 

Then she lowered her hand, and wrapped her arms around herself as she headed through the doors and down the corridor leading to her room. 

When she reached her room, Kip was waiting for her. 

The first words out of his mouth were, "Did you find a partner?"

Sabrina stopped cold. "...Whoops."

—

Sabrina laid awake in her bed that night, staring up at the ceiling. She had managed to ignore most of Kip's panicking, but pieces of it kept echoing in her head, twisting a bundle of nausea into her stomach and preventing her from sleeping.

Despite her flippancy to Kip's face, she did care. She had learned how to dance for the alternate her— but what use was that without a partner?

She didn't want to ask Tony again, though— she was always bothering him, for one, and she was pretty sure when King Crown told his daughter to find a partner, he hadn't been thinking about her dancing instructor.

Her mind kept drifting back to earlier that day. Isabel, stuffing her face with cotton candy long after Sabrina had grown sick of it— she had bought herself another stick after they finished with the rides. Isabel, laughing until she couldn't breathe, and her defensive reaction afterwards. Isabel, clutching to a unicorn on the merry-go-round, smiling to herself.

Isabel, Isabel, Isabel.

Sabrina slid out from under the covers, searching for her shoes and slipping them on. Just laying there in bed thinking wasn't helping— she wasn't sure that going out would be any better, but at least then she would have something else to look at other than Princess Sabrina's choice in ceiling. 

She made her way out to the castle gates, the warm night air wrapping itself around her. The guard at the gate— a different one than she usually saw— gave her pause, but he merely nodded at her as she passed him by. 

She only paused a moment before deciding to turn to her right, towards Rumba Beach. Viennese Waltz Lake would be too still for her current state of mind, and she didn't think either the Tango Garden nor Samba Square were open at this hour. 

When she reached the beach, someone else was already sitting on the sand, watching the waves. Adrenaline spiked into her veins as she caught a glimpse of pink hair, and she caught her breath— only for disappointment to crash into her when she realized her mistake. 

It was not Isabel, but Cesar.

She bit back a groan— company, especially company that consistently asked to be her partner, was not what she wanted, not tonight. Before she could leave, however, he turned his head, and saw her.

"Princess Sabrina!" He raised his arm to her, then patted the sand next to him. "Join me."

She could have refused— but she hesitated. There was something off about him, something quiet and almost deflated. He hadn't adorned his request with any of his usual florid compliments.

She stepped forward, and settled down beside him in the sand. He didn't speak again, and neither did she; they just sat there for a while, watching the waves continually roll in to the shore and return back to the ocean. 

So much to think about. This would be the last time she saw this view, she realized— after tomorrow, the ball at St. Lyon's would be over, and then she would go home. 

She pulled her eyes away from the water, and glanced sideways at Cesar. 

"What are you doing here so late?" she asked. "The ball's tomorrow— I thought you'd want to get your beauty sleep."

He smiled a little in response to her last comment, but it faded quickly. He didn't answer right away. 

Finally, he said, "Thinking about my sister."

"I didn't know you had a sister," Sabrina said. 

Cesar hummed in agreement. "She's been— away— for a very long time," he said. 

Sabrina wanted to ask, where is she?, but when she looked back at him, something about his expression stopped her. 

Another long silence stretched between them. 

"It's late for you too, honey," Cesar pointed out, eventually.

"I know," Sabrina said, drawing her knees up to her chest. She hesitated— was she really going to confide in Cesar, of all people? 

But— he did seem different tonight. Quieter, more thoughtful. She had never seen him like this before. 

"The ball tomorrow," she said. "I don't have a partner."

Immediately, he said, "I could—"

"No, Cesar."

He threw her a wounded look, placing a hand to his heart. She couldn't help it— she laughed, somehow comforted. He couldn't be too down if he was up to his usual dramatics. She'd been half-concerned that she'd somehow managed to fall into yet another alternate universe.

"No, Cesar," she repeated, but more gently this time. "It's not just you— I don't want to dance with any of the princes I've met." She paused, searching for the right words. He waited, watching her. "This— this ball is important, right? Who I dance with— that matters. But when I think about dancing with any of them, it just doesn't feel right." 

She rested her chin on the back of her knees, wrapping her trembling arms around her legs. She waited, fixing her eyes steadily on the horizon. 

"Who do you want to dance with?" Cesar asked, unexpectedly. 

"I—" she started, then stopped, confused. She raised her head, looked at him again. "Don't I have to dance with a prince?"

He didn't answer, and she picked her way through her thoughts. "What if— the person I dance with— isn't a prince? Can I do that?"

Cesar gave her a gentle look. "You danced with your instructor at the last few competitions," he pointed out.

"That's different," Sabrina said. "Isn't it?" She shook her head. "Besides, that was only because I couldn't find anyone else. What if I chose someone who wasn't a prince?"

"Then you dance with them," Cesar said. 

While she was still absorbing the implications of that, he stood, stretching. He watched the ocean for a moment longer, then turned to her.

"It's late, honey," he said, and held his hand out to her.

Sabrina looked up at him for a moment, then placed her hand in his. 

As he pulled her to her feet, she smiled and said, "Thank you, Cesar."

—

The next morning, Sabrina woke up on time. She put on the gold necklace she had received in the last competition, and transformed into her dress to the sound of Kip fretting over her lack of a partner.

"Don't worry, Kip," she said, running her fingers through her hair. "I have it figured out."

Then, before he could react, she walked out of the door. She didn't check to see if he followed.

—

Sabrina found Isabel outside the ballroom, half-hidden behind one of the columns near the entrance and watching everyone go by. If she hadn't been looking for her, she wasn't sure she would have noticed her at all.

"Isabel!" Sabrina called out, and quickened her pace so that in a few, short moments, she was standing before her. "Isabel," she repeated.

Isabel looked up at her, surprise filtering across her face. Then she shuttered that emotion away, and crossed her arms. "What are you doing here?" she asked, looking away. "Shouldn't you be getting ready for your dance? Where's your prince?"

"I am," Sabrina said. "And I want you to be my partner."

Isabel dropped her arms back to her side. "What?"

"I want you to be my partner for the ball," Sabrina repeated.

Isabel stared. Slowly, her hands clenched together. "That's not funny," she said.

Sabrina blinked, nonplussed. "What?"

"That's not funny," Isabel repeated, tears pricking at her eyes. "Didn't you say you wanted to be my friend?"

"I— yes, I do," Sabrina stuttered. "I don't—"

"Then don't tease me like that!" Isabel snapped, tears starting to drip down her face. "Everyone else is always teasing me— mocking me with their friends and partners and— friends aren't supposed to do that! You're not supposed to do that!"

"But I'm not!" Sabrina protested. "I'm serious!" She reached out, grabbed Isabel by the wrist. "Isabel," she said, again. "I'm serious."

Isabel stared at her with wide-eyes. "You're serious," she repeated.

Sabrina met Isabel's gaze, and nodded, letting go of her wrist.

"But I don't know the steps," Isabel said. "It won't work."

Sabrina shook her head. "I don't care." She paused for a moment, looking at her. Finally, quietly, she asked, "Do you want to be my partner?"

Isabel hesitated only a moment before blurting out her answer. "Yes!"

Sabrina let out a laugh, relieved. "Good," she said, smiling down at her. "Then it doesn't matter— I said we'd figure it out, remember? It'll all work out, somehow."

"Princess!" exclaimed Kip's voice— he had finally caught up to her. "What are you doing? It's time!"

Sabrina looked over her shoulder at him. "Yes, yes, I know," she said, rolling her eyes. "I'll be right there, don't worry."

She turned back to Isabel, and held out her hand. "Are you ready?" she asked.

Isabel smiled— really, properly smiled, the way she had when Sabrina had asked her if she wanted to be her friend— and placed her hand in hers.

"Yes."

**Author's Note:**

> A few notes:
> 
> ► most of the canon-specific details come from either the alone/secret prince route or the Cesar route.  
> ► I know very little about dancing, so everything dancing-related in this fic comes from what I picked up from the game itself.


End file.
